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Company communications with government authorities about potential criminal activity or wrongdoing by the company’s employees may expose that company to liability for defamation; that is, unless those communications are considered privileged.

Industry groups are lining up against a proposed rule requiring firms seeking to do business with the federal government to report past labor law violations, contending the regulations would “blacklist” companies from procuring federal contracts.

Company-issued smartphones have obliterated the line between the workday and off hours. For employers and workers, 8 p.m. emails from the boss aren’t just disrupting home life. They’re raising legal questions, too.

I’ve got a new piece at Reason on how the U.S. Department of Labor stepped over the line when — relying on an obscure “hot goods” provision of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act — it slapped an order on two Oregon blueberry growers forbidding them from selling their crop until they settled a (dubious) DoL demand for back pay for workers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and four other business groups Feb. 5 asked a federal district court in Washington to grant them summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging the National Labor Relations Board’s adoption of rule changes in union representation cases.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), it plans to increase its emphasis on audits and prosecutions of minimum wage and overtime violations, to increase its scrutiny of independent contractor classifications, and to issue a revision to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s white collar overtime exemption rules.

A majority of attention paid to federal agency overreach in the labor policy arena during the Obama administration has focused on National Labor Relations Board actions, and for good reason. But the Department of Labor also has a penchant for excessive enforcement and overstepping its authority.